Yes, bicycle shops generally provide repair services. A typical list of offered services includes regular service/adjustment (including safety check; and brake, drivetrain, and tire inspection); premium, and annual service, which is a more extensive tune-up. More specific repairs include drivetrain tune-up, brake system tune-up, flat tire fixes, brake repairs, cleaning and touching up the bike frame.
Road riders need lightweight, tiny tools that can fit into jersey pockets. A lot of those items are made of carbon fiber, which is lighter than aluminum. Other iconic trappings of road riding, like CO2 cartridges and spandex outfits, are also geared toward minimalism, but all of that downsizing comes at a cost. Commuters don’t have to be as concerned with weight, so unless you covet something specific, don’t spend the extra money.
Since then, I’ve found a few decent alternatives to my dilemma: The Venzo Pro Mechanic Stand that runs at about $88, and the Cave Competitor Service Post for $59. While there are other alternatives out there—sometimes cheaper ones—these are the two that I think are actually worth the price. I can’t really vouch for any others out there. But there just ain’t getting around this one. You’ll need something to hold your bike while you work on it.
These guys are awesome. After work, I got to my bike to discover my back tire was completely flat. It had a slow leak, so I was able to pump it up enough to make it to their shop. I got there 10 minutes before closing and they were able to fit me in. They replaced my tube and picked all of the glass shards out of my tire. Awesome customer service and they saved me from having to do this myself in the dark and the cold.
Professional mountain biker Rebecca Rusch has been on plenty of long rides and experienced enough mechanical failures to know what makes a fully-stocked repair kit. One of her recent journeys, a 1,200-mile journey through the jungles of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia along the Ho Chi Minh Trail required the utmost degree of preparedness — “We brought with us a lot of extra bearings, o-rings, stuff that you would never be able to find in Laos and Cambodia. Before I go out on these big adventures, I replace every bearing in my bike, my fork got a total rebuild — everything is in pristine condition,” says Rusch.
It’s both surprising, and not, if you think about it. The way I’ve usually seen it happen is first the rear tire goes flat, then the front one. My theory is that both tires went through the same pile of glass/thorns/metal bits and they both picked up junk. the reason for the flat occurring on the back first is because there’s more weight on that tire, so the offending article works its way through the tread more quickly.
If you’re going to use the chain whip you just made, you’ll also need a way to get that cassette off. A lockring remover is a must-have; unless you use one of the shady removal methods I’ve seen on the internet—which I wouldn’t necessarily recommend unless you don’t care much about the condition of the wheel after you use them. I recommend Park Tool’s iterations here that cost about $6, but you’ll need to buy the specific one for your brand/type of cassette. (By the way, I’m assuming you already have an adjustable wrench laying around somewhere to use with this tool. If you don’t, well, you’ll need one of those too.)
Next, two-stage designs. There are two types of hand pump. HV (high-volume) pumps, ones that pump a lot of air but don’t have a lot of pressure, which are used for mountain bikes. The Lezyne Alloy Drive is a high-volume pump. Then there are HP (high-pressure) pumps, which pump a small amount of air but can inflate to very high pressures and are used on road bikes. Our top pick is a high-pressure pump.
Pedals are important because the serve as the contact point between the rider and the bike’s transmission. Clip-less pedals systems come in a variety of designs favoured by individual manufacturers, but the mechanics of all styles are roughly the same. Tiny adjustments in the position of the show cleat – that snaps into position on the pedal – can make a big difference to the comfort and health of the rider.